A proposal to build a 31.3m telecommunications tower in a hinterland town has been recommended for refusal, with a council report citing visual and character impacts and a lack of demonstrated community need.
A development application was lodged in October 2023 by Waveconn Operations Pty Ltd seeking approval to establish the single tower and ground-based equipment at 1-9 Campbell Street, Woombye.
Sunshine Coast councillors will decide on the fate of the application at their ordinary meeting on July 24.
Waveconn, which develops and maintains mobile phone infrastructure for use by major carriers, has proposed the facility to support Optus network services in the area.
The site is zoned Rural and borders residential properties, prompting community concern during the public notification phase, which ran from August 5-26 last year.
“A total of 443 properly made submissions, including six petitions containing 253 signatures, were received during the public notification phase for the application. All but three of these opposed the proposal,” the council officer’s report states.
A letter to the council from SAQ Consulting on behalf of Waveconn in July 2024 set out why the facility was needed.
“Due to the constraints of 5G in terms of its reach there is no feasible way to provide useful and reliable 5G services to Woombye without additional infrastructure much closer to the township and the population that is to be served,” it said.
“The current level of wireless network service is not consistent with modern customer expectations nor with council’s Smart Cities program or the Strategic Framework.
“(The lack of service) affects both the resident population, businesses and visitors to the town, including those conducting business such as tradies, pop-up shops and other mobile employees who rely on voice and data connectivity as well as for payment systems such as EFTPOS.”
But the report for this month’s council meeting says the proposed tower – which would be about 200m north of the Woombye Pub – would not comply with key provisions of the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme.
“The proposal has not been designed and located to minimise community impacts, in particular, visual amenity on nearby residences,” it says.
“The proposal has not been integrated in a sustainable and attractive manner and therefore would unduly impact upon the character of the local area.”
The report also says there is no compelling community need that would justify allowing the tower.
“The application has not demonstrated that there is an overriding need in the community interest sufficient to justify approval of the proposal despite the conflicts with planning scheme,” it states.
The applicant’s supporting materials, including visual modelling and photomontages, were reviewed by council officers, who concluded the proposal would have a “clear visual impact” on nearby premises.
“The non-compliances with the planning scheme cannot be overcome through reasonable and relevant conditions, and there are no other relevant matters applicable to the application that justify approving the proposed development,” the report states.
The aerial imagery in this story is from Australian location intelligence company Nearmap. The company provides government organisations, architectural, construction and engineering firms, and other companies, with easy, instant access to high-resolution aerial imagery, city-scale 3D content, artificial intelligence data sets, and geospatial tools to assist with urban planning, monitoring and development projects in Australia, New Zealand and North America.
